Earlier this month there were some interesting makers – music makers, robots, woodworking, taking things apart and putting things together – check out the video !
Continue reading “Central Oregon Maker Fair Review”MakerFaire Central Oregon is coming up!
Central Oregon Maker Faire is less than a month away! This is the place to be for interesting robots, solar cars, sustainability or various interesting DIY projects.
Continue reading “MakerFaire Central Oregon is coming up!”Where are the big roofs for Solar? A mathematical look at pulling data from OpenStreetMap
In recent years there has been a lot of talk about solar and more renewable energy. In USA the recent IRA has provisions for extending solar and renewable energy, and the Florida governor last year supported Solar benefits which turn out to be helpful in many natural disasters, making an energy grid more easily self-sustainable after hurricanes that are common to that state. What if we could go over a map and see what buildings are the best candidates for solar generation? OpenStreetMap has not just street maps, but many other features, including building coordinates, which can give us polygons that can calculate areas for potential solar!
Continue reading “Where are the big roofs for Solar? A mathematical look at pulling data from OpenStreetMap”Big news for EV expansion in USA today
Today there was a big announcement from the White House for future EV charging stations…
Continue reading “Big news for EV expansion in USA today”NodeRed for Onstar access for GM/Chevy vehicle access
In recent years there has been a surge in popularity of Chevrolet vehicles like the Chevrolet Bolt and, coming soon, the Equinox EV. There has also been increased popularity for Linux phones like the Librem phone, but unfortunately there has been no equivalent for the “myChevrolet” app for your own computer or Linux-phone… unless you know where to look.
Continue reading “NodeRed for Onstar access for GM/Chevy vehicle access”StarryAI Machine-generated Christmas images and app icons
Some time ago I found the StarryAI service, with limited computer-generated imagery functionality. These are the image equivalent of painting as writing would be to ChatGPT. Let’s take a look at what we can generate…
Continue reading “StarryAI Machine-generated Christmas images and app icons”Getting your camera pictures back to the correct created-time
How many times have you had some new battery in your camera set, after which the time did not set correctly and each photo you take is a photo taken in 1970 or has another issue when seen on the computer? This is a common problem that one tool, Exiftool has a quick solution for:
Continue reading “Getting your camera pictures back to the correct created-time”MakerFaire Central Oregon 2022
This year’s MakerFaire had some great additions and some new booths… Check out a few of the highlights:
Continue reading “MakerFaire Central Oregon 2022”Plus codes as an easy location-sharing option
You may know of grid squares for general location in a ham radio contest, or the What3Words system with its easy access if you have network access, but there is another often-used location project you may not have heard of which is also easier than sharing a long latitude and longitude number!
Continue reading “Plus codes as an easy location-sharing option”Are Electric vehicles the way to go? A mathematical look at the economics of EVs
There have been a lot of items in the news about electric cars recently – many states have rebate for new vehicles, and federal tax incentives will be a complicated and interesting opportunity next year. The car company website would certainly say you will save a lot purchasing their vehicles, but there is a surprisingly easy way to estimate for yourself whether an EV is cost effective.
Continue reading “Are Electric vehicles the way to go? A mathematical look at the economics of EVs”